April 10, 2018
Institute of Liturgical Studies, Valparaiso, IN
Mark 1.4-11
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”1
There seems to be some discrepancy, some holy disagreement, among translators through the ages about just who or what did which or what with the primordial waters of Genesis. The NRSV translates "rua elohim" as a wind. But the Revised Standard and King James Versions translate that phrase as the Spirit of God. The rua elohim sweeps over the waters or moves over the waters respectively. Martin Luther and others translate the Spirit brooding over the waters, evoking the image of a mother bird sitting on her eggs until they are ready to hatch. 2
Of course, my son, Micah's Spark Story Bible from Augsburg echoes Psalm 29 as IT tells the first verses of Genesis: "Before God created the world, there was nothing at all – except God. On the first day of creation the wind of God blew. Whish! Whoosh! Swoosh! God said, "Let there be light!" Crackle! Boom! Bang! There was light. God saw that the light was good. Then, Splllllllit! God divided the light and the darkness into day and night."3 There is part of me that prefers this version for its visceral recreation of the creation story! I can imagine hearing it this way as the oral tradition was passed from generation to generation.
Whatever the verb – sweeping or moving or brooding or whish, whoosh, swoosh! The Spirit, the wind of God interacted with the water – and something...happened.
Something new happened. Something blessed happened.
Kathryn Schifferdecker reminds us of Ephram the Syrian from the 4th century who wrote: “[The Holy Spirit] warmed the waters with a kind of vital warmth, even bringing them to a boil through intense heat in order to make them fertile. The action of a hen is similar. It sits on its eggs, making them fertile through the warmth of incubation.”4 The idea of fertile waters bringing forth life is not only part of ancient Hebrew religious stories. In many ancient mythologies, the primordial waters had to be subdued so that creation could happen on earth. But this creation story seems to be the only one in which the waters and the Spirit bring forth life as a mother does, birthing creation.5
Of course, humans are carried in water for 9 months as bones and muscles and brain tissue and eyes and ears and tiny little mouths are knit together and a child is formed. And then, Whish! Whoosh! Swoosh! And sometimes Crackle! Boom! Bang! We're brought forth...in water.
Creation is a messy business.
These days it is common practice for the newborn child to be taken immediately and laid upon the bare chest of the one who has birthed her, or if that isn't possible, on the bare chest of another parent. Through that skin-to-skin contact she is drawn into the rhythm of the parent. It helps to regulate the baby's breathing, heartrate and body temperature as well as giving her the chance to begin rooting all within about 30 minutes of birth.
I have an image of creation being birthed through the primordial waters and then laid upon God's chest coming into rhythm with God's breath and heartbeat. And lovingly declared very good.
In the story of Jesus' baptism in Mark we understand the same Spirit which brooded over the waters to descend, in fact to splllllllllllit open the heavens, in the form of a dove, and descend over the waters from which Jesus emerged. And the same voice which brought light into being, the sun, moon and stars, with the land, and sea, and plants, and creatures – that same voice lovingly declares, "You are my Son, the beloved. With you I am well pleased."
This is not the dramatic birth story with shepherds and angels like in Luke or with magi and late-night escape Egypt like in Matthew. Mark begins with the dramatic baptismal birth story of Jesus in which water and the Spirit merge to give birth to the Beloved of God. And there, Jesus is declared to be in rhythm with God's heart, God's breath, indeed God's very self.
And so, the Spirit of God interacted with the water, the voice of God spoke, and something...happened.
Something new happened. Something blessed happened.
When Jack was 76 he chose to be baptized. He'd been coming to Peace Lutheran Church with his wife for more than 30 years. But he'd not been baptized. And so, one Sunday morning, because Easter Vigil was a bit much for Jack, he stood at the ever-flowing fountain at the entrance to the space, bent his head over the basin, and was baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit.
He later talked about his experience of the Spirit washing over him in that moment. He said it felt like something coming from over his head covering and filling his body. He said it felt like a huge hug.
The next January as we celebrated the Baptism of Our Lord, he came to the font again and as the water was traced on his head in the sign of the cross, he heard the words, you are God's child and God loves you very much. His eyes filled with tears and he later said that again, he felt warm all over his body, like God was holding him close.
That's the thing about baptism. It happens once and for all. But it also keeps happening. The waters keep washing us. The Spirit keeps claiming us. God keeps birthing us bringing us into the rhythm of God's heart and breath. The Spirit keeps claiming us. God keeps birthing us bringing us into the rhythm of God's heart and breath. The Spirit keeps claiming us. God keeps birthing us bringing us into the rhythm of God's heart and breath. And each time something new happens. Something blessed happens. We are made again, much loved children of God.
Now, lest we become overly sentimental about this baptism as birth metaphor, let us remember that birth does not happen without Whish, Whoosh, Swoosh and sometimes Crackle, Boom, Bang. And sometimes Spllllllllllit! PAIN! The one who births experiences pain unlike any other known to man. It is intense. It is mind-boggling. It is exhausting pain. And yet it is purposeful, fruitful, even beneficial pain. We've done a lot in the modern medical science to prevent as much pain as possible in childbirth. But it is not and cannot be completely erased.
Neither is God's birthing without pain. We are baptized not only into Christ's life, but also into his death. A slow and painful death which caused him to cry out – My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
I found it particularly poignant to hear children's voices last night singing – sweetly – the text from the funeral rite: When we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were baptized into his death.
In baptism, birth and pain and death go hand-in-hand. In fact, they cannot be separated one from another. That is so hard to stomach that when we baptize our infant children we often gloss over the pain and death part and focus solely on the new life part. There we are joyful and comfortable.
But as a now 80-year-old Jack lay on his death bed, baptismal birth and death imagery, made all the sense in the world to him. He assured his wife, and me, his pastor, that he was simply going to be physically held in the arms of God. He said he looked forward to having that feeling of God's huge hug around him all the time.
Laying aside the particulars of his theological reasoning, he was right. Baptism continues to wash us and birth us into God's embrace until we are eternally birthed into God's embrace, made one with God's heart and God's breath.
As water and Spirit birthed creation into being and birthed Jesus into ministry so too are we birthed by water and the Spirit, daily into the heart and breath of God.
